AlphaStar Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

AlphaStar Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 870 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. AlphaStar Capital Management LLC’s holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,211,222 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $615,058,000 after purchasing an additional 6,637 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in UnitedHealth Group by 25.9% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 40,399 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $20,436,000 after acquiring an additional 8,302 shares during the period. Hendershot Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Hendershot Investments Inc. now owns 42,630 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $21,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 5,475 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock worth $2,770,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in UnitedHealth Group by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,168 shares of the healthcare conglomerate’s stock valued at $15,767,000 after buying an additional 2,282 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.86% of the company’s stock.

UnitedHealth Group Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of UNH opened at $526.68 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $484.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.83. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $436.38 and a fifty-two week high of $630.73. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $529.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $564.37.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $6.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.07. UnitedHealth Group had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 26.69%. The company had revenue of $100.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.60 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.83 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UNH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $675.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $615.00 to $595.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. HSBC upgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $595.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stephens upped their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $605.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $601.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $629.32.

Insider Transactions at UnitedHealth Group

In other UnitedHealth Group news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $511.57 per share, for a total transaction of $511,570.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,302,065. This represents a 28.57 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.